Roll those Big Dice

This is a fun activity for toddlers where they can learn their shapes and colors while

having fun tossing big boxes around the room. You’ll need a couple of medium size

square boxes. Wrap each box with white paper or wrapping paper turned inside out. Then

print the shapes below. Cut them out and tape/glue them to the 6 sides of the dice. Have

your students roll each die and tell what shape/color is on top. They’ll love tossing the

big boxes around!

Supplies Needed:

2 medium size square boxes ( they don’t have to be exact squares)

White paper, or wrapping paper

Tape or glue

Printer and paper (if you don’t have a printer, see the Tips below)

Tips/Suggestions:

If you don’t have a printer you can just draw the shapes on the dice

or cut them out of construction paper.

For the older toddlers you can have them help you with wrapping

the box and putting the shapes on each side. You can also practice

learning what a pair is when they get two of the same shape.

For more durability, use contact paper over the cutout shapes to affix

them to the box.

Egghead Plant Starters

1. Ask the students what plants need to grow.

Explain that plants need water, light, nutrients,

and air to grow.

2. Explain to the students that they will be plant-

ing alfalfa seeds. Alfalfa is a flowering plant

that is most commonly harvested as hay to be

used as livestock feed.

3. Show the egghead plant starter example to the

students. Explain that they will be creating

eggheads to start their alfalfa. Give each stu-

dent an empty, rinsed eggshell. They will use

the permanent markers to draw a face on the

shell and write their name on the opposite

side.

4. Show the students how to spoon soil into the

eggshell. Use a water spray bottle to moisten

the soil before planting half a spoonful of al-

falfa seeds. Spoon a small amount of soil on

top, enough to cover the seeds.

5. Explain to the students that the alfalfa seeds

will germinate in about one week. In order to

germinate, the seeds will need warmth and

moisture. Ask the students how they can help

the seeds get the warmth and moisture they

need to germinate. The students can moisten

the soil with a water spray bottle three times a

day and keep the eggheads near a sunny win-

dow so the sunlight can warm the soil.

6. Once the plants are growing, they will need

water, light, nutrients, and air to grow. Ask the

students how they can meet the needs of their

plants. They can water their plants and keep

them in a sunny place. The soil will provide

nutrients, and the plants will use the air that is

in the classroom.

7. Show the students movements to represent the

needs of a plant. To represent water from rain,

the students will start with their hands raised

high over their heads and then wiggle their

fingers as they lower them to the ground. To

represent light from the sun, the students will

make the shape of a circle above their heads

with their arms. To represent nutrients from

the soil, the students will pat the ground with

their hands. To represent air, the students will

breathe in air, close their mouths, and puff out

their cheeks.

8. Sing the song “Dig a Hole” with the students.

Ask the students to make the movements they

learned when the song says water, light, nutri-

ents, and air.

9. After about three weeks, the alfalfa will have

grown into a nice head of hair for the egghead,

and the plants will need more space. They will

be ready to transfer to a garden. The plants

and eggshells can be transferred together. The

eggshells will add the nutrient calcium to the

soil. Calcium benefits cell growth in plants.

Before transferring the plant, crush the egg-

shell to help it break down faster in the soil. utah.agclassroom.org

Page 8

Volume 9, Issue 1

Alexis Cordova, M.S. County Extension Agent

Family & Consumer Sciences alexis.cordova@ag.tamu.edu

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Service Liberty County 501 Palmer, Liberty, TX 77575

(936) 334-3230

FAX (936) 336-4565

http://liberty.agrilife.org/

Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status. The Texas A&M Uni-

versity System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating. Individuals with disabilities who require an auxiliary aid, service or accommodation in order to participate in an event

are encouraged to contact the Liberty County Extension Office at 936-334-3230 as soon as possible to advise us of the auxiliary aid or service that you will require.

Inside this issue:

Teaching Addresses and Phone Numbers

Celebrating Holidays What’s In Season? Math Skills

How a Child Might Describe Having an Allergic Reaction

10 Creative Ways to Calm an Angry Child

We have often marveled at the long hours children can

spend playing with simple materials like boxes, rocks,

shells, sand, or water. Our observations have led us to

question the conventional wisdom of providing children

with sophisticated toys. As you’ve probably noted

yourself, children are often more interested in the

packaging than in the toys themselves.

Children usually prefer play that stimulates their curiosity

and gives free reign to their imaginations and creativity.

We believe that one of the best ways to enhance their

natural curiosity is to introduce a wide variety of the

materials we call “loose parts” into their play settings.

What Are Loose Parts?

In early childhood education settings, loose parts mean

alluring, beautiful, found objects and materials that

children can move, manipulate, control, and change while

they play. Children can carry, combine, redesign, line up,

take apart, and put loose parts back together in almost

endless ways. The materials come with no specific set of

directions, and they can be used alone or combined with

other materials. Children can turn them into whatever

they desire: a stone can become a character in a story; an

acorn can become an ingredient in an imaginary soup.

These objects invite conversations and interactions, and

they encourage collaboration and cooperation. Put

another way, loose parts promote social competence

because they support creativity and innovation. All of

these are highly valued skills in adult life today.

Loose parts possess infinite play possibilities. They offer

multiple rather than single outcomes: no specific set of

directions accompanies them; no single result is inevita-

ble. Unlike a jigsaw puzzle, whose pieces are meant to be

fitted together in a specific way to make a single picture,

loose parts can be joined in many ways. A scarf, for

example, can become a blanket to swaddle a baby, a

platform for a picnic, a fishing pond, a cover for a fort, or

a veil covering the face of a bride.

Origin of Loose Parts

Children for generations have used found materials in

their play from rocks and sticks to tin cans and wire. In

his article “How NOT to Cheat Children: the Theory of

Loose Parts,” the British architect Simon Nicholson

coined the term “loose parts” to describe open-ended

materials that can be used and manipulated in many ways

(1971). Nicholson saw people of every age as potentially

creative. Environments, he believed, offer many ways for

children to interact with variables such as gravity, sounds,

chemical reactions, concepts, words, and people. For

Nicholson, the richness of an environment depended on

the opportunities it provided for making connections. “In

any environment,” he writes, “both the degree of inven-

tiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery,

are directly proportional to the number and kind of

variables in it” (30). Take, for example, a beach: it is

filled with loose parts—rocks, shells, beach glass, plants,

feathers. When children play in such a setting, they can

move around, making use of any or all of the found

objects, devising spaces and structures that can entertain

them for hours. This isn’t only fun but it also helps them

develop higher levels of critical thinking and creativity.

When an environment is rich in loose parts, children are

likely to discover multiple ways to manipulate them and

new ways of thinking or processing the knowledge

learned by playing with the materials. Children can use

flat tree cookies to serve as a sturdy base for a tall tower,

stepping stones to lead them safely across an imaginary

river filled with hungry alligators, a steering wheel for

their race car, or a lily pad to shelter frogs. They become

more creative and flexible in their thinking while satisfy-

ing their ever-growing curiosity and love for learning.

Continues on page 7

8 Ways to Teach Children Their Address and Phone Number

1. Make a map of your neighborhood or town

We drew a map of our home and town on old

packing paper. We wrote the house number

on the drawing of our home, added the street

name on our road, and placed the name on our

town. In addition to mapping out important

locations like the fire department, the children

included their favorite places to eat.

2. Sing a Song

It’s so much easier to memorize something to

song. If you do a quick search on the internet

you will come up with a variety of ideas, but

you can also easily make one up on your

own. We sing our phone number and address

to the tune of Frere Jacques. Super easy!

3. Sequencing Activities

Write your child’s address on index cards and

have them place the cards in the correct

order. I separated our address as follows:

House number

Street name

City/Town

State

Zip Code

I’m planning to make a telephone file folder

game to review the number with this free

learning telephone numbers printable from

Spell Outloud. I will use the printable that

includes the area code, laminate the numbers,

and use velcro dots so we can reuse it.

4. Real Life Practice

Let your child practice dialing your phone

number on a real phone. This is also a great

time to give instruction on how to place a call

on a cell phone since it’s a bit different than a

landline.

5. Use Manipulatives

We used our abacus to make

our phone number. It was

interesting to see our phone

number this way and later we

also did it with counting cubes. Use letter

and number magnets to practice your phone

number and address too. For a longer project,

you could also make numbers out of Lego

bricks. Your imagination is your limit!

6. Make a Mailbox

The kids loved this activity! I recycled an

empty box and packing paper

into a family “mailbox”. The

children wrote letters and drew

pictures to each other. They

put our address on envelopes

and stuck them in the box. This might turn

into a long term family project! If you don’t

feel like making your own mailbox, I think

this Melissa & Doug play mailbox is cute!

7. Get Crafty

We made houses out of

empty cereal boxes with our

house number on them. We

also made street signs to go

with it. I think next time we’ll try making

houses out of brown paper bags. For a

phone number craft, you could cut a

telephone out of construction paper, have

children glue on numbers, and then practice

dialing their number.

8. Play a Game

We played this fun game to learn our phone

number last week. We’ll make the grid with

chalk outside and play this game for review as

the weather warms up. This week I’m going

to try reviewing my cell phone number by

creating a phone BINGO

game. Adding games to the

learning process makes things

more enjoyable for all of us.

www.lastingthumbprints.com

9 Ways to Get Control of a Very Difficult Class

Here is a list of some classroom management tips and

techniques that have been used successfully in

Kindergarten.

1. Have a (Naughty) Child Model the Correct Behavior

2. Ask Parents for “Advise”

3. Put the Child on the Phone with Mom or Dad

(Immediately)

4. Have Children Earn Chips for Good Behavior in Teams

5. When Kids Respond Only to Their Parents, Sometimes

They Respect the video that Their Parents May See

6. Try Teaching the classroom management routines and

rules with music, stories, and puppets.

7. Back up and try it again

8. Give them structure—and lots of it!

9. Think about why the strugglers are happen-

ing—and see if any can be eliminated. By Heidi Songs

blog.heidisongs.com

TSC Growing School Gardens

An exciting new opportunity is now available for

New York and Tennessee elementary teachers.

Tractor Supply Company, in partnership with the

National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization,

is launching the Dig It, a School Gardens Curriculum

Program in New York and Tennessee. If you would

like to start a school garden, revitalize an already

existing garden, or expand your garden program,

applications are currently being accepted for class-

room programs to begin in February 2016.

Application Deadline:

January 1, 2016

Award Notification:

January 31, 2016

Page 2 Page 7

Continued from page 1.

The Value of Loose Parts

Children prefer loose parts. Anyone who has watched children play with

toys or playground equipment knows that they quickly tire of things with

a sole purpose. Once they've mastered the key function of an object—

pushing the button to make a figure pop up or climbing a ladder, for

example—they are ready to move on. The intrigue and the challenge are

gone. In other words, children make their play choices based on how

much variability those materials offer. A stick is a richer choice than a

slide because it can become a fishing pole, a spoon for stirring a concoc-

tion, a magic wand, or a balance beam for snails. Loose parts offer

almost numberless variables, prompting children to create their own

stories.

With so many materials available for ECE classrooms, you need to make

choices that maximize children’s development and make sense finan-

cially. Today, teachers are often expected to provide classroom materials

out of their own pockets. Happily, loose parts can often be had for free,

and they offer a bonus: they encourage you, and the children’s parents,

to reuse, renew, and recycle. Write a note to the children’s families

asking them to collect potentially rich materials around their homes to

add to the classroom. Provide a list of suggested items (small boxes, jar

lids, buttons, fabric). Also, post your list in the classroom or distribute it

at school events.

Loose Parts Support the Curriculum

Loose parts offer many possibilities for open-ended learning. Especially

in ECE programs where standards and ditto sheets are threatening to take

over, advocate for loose parts as they support the acquisition of skills

that children are required to demonstrate when they enter kindergarten.

Math

Children acquire their first math skills and numerical concepts when

they manipulate small loose parts, like blocks and bottle caps, by sorting

and classifying, and combining and separating them. They learn one-to-

one correspondence when they make connections among loose parts.

Once they begin integrating loose parts into their games, you commonly

hear them start to count and see them arranging the parts in specific

sequences, patterns, and categories by color, type, number, and class.

Loose parts lend themselves to classification. The concept of measure-

ment becomes clear when children play with tools like cups, sticks,

funnels, and sifters. Measurement, equivalency, balance, spatial

awareness, conservation, and logical classification are precursors to

higher mathematical skills that loose parts readily support.

Physical Science

Loose parts help children investigate and actively construct ideas and

explanations about physical properties of the nonliving world. Children

gain deeper knowledge of how things work when they can experiment

with stacking boxes, tubes, and bottles. They can also test multiple

hypotheses involving gravity, force, weight, distance, and height with

these materials. Children learn that things move in many various ways

(motion) through playing with loose parts that can be pulled and pushed

to start, stop, or change their movement. Wooden boards, gutters, and

balls help them investigate inclines and gravity. Prisms and open-ended

materials that are transparent, translucent, or opaque on a light table or

overhead projector help children experiment with color, shadows, and

reflected or refracted light.

Language and Literacy

Loose parts promote language development when children use them as

props to engage in rich conversations and storytelling with peers and

adults. Describing the items they manipulate, children can test new,

complex words and engage in productive arguments that increase their

critical-thinking skills. They make connections between loose parts, the

books they have read, and the stories they have heard. They use loose

parts to plan and draw their ideas and interactions. Ample, continuous

use of loose parts helps children improve their memories, vocabularies,

and literacy.

Art

Children often express their ideas and feelings through art. An open art

studio offers them tools and materials for telling their stories. Adding

loose parts to the art area can enhance their creativity and help them

extend their ideas and questions. When loose parts are added to your art

center, they offer children invitations to draw, sculpt, collage, explore,

and extend their ideas. Such opportunities shouldn't be confined to the

art area though. Fill your indoor and outdoor settings with open-ended

resources to encourage creative expression everywhere. Children’s sense

of beauty can be as easily seen in their arrangements of sticks lined up

side by side, wooden planks propped symmetrically against a lodge, rock

mosaics laid in sand, and pinecones arranged in spirals.

Movement and Music

Music and movement captures children’s attention and hearts. Move-

ment for children mostly takes place through self-directed, self-initiated

play as they freely move their bodies. Movement possibilities with loose

parts such as scarves, hoops, and ribbons are endless, and provide oppor-

tunity for children to improvise. Musical play often means hitting items

as hard as possible to see how they sound, and loose parts offer almost

limitless opportunities to explore sounds that can be exuberant, random,

noisy, and chaotic or quiet, gentle, and focused. Almost all children will

naturally have the ability to interact with music.

We hope that you are inspired by this book to add more loose parts to

children’s play. When you provide loose parts and have an open mind

about how they may be used, the children will surprise and delight you

with what they create and learn.

This article is excerpted from Chapter 1: Daly, Lisa, and Miriam

Beloglovsky. 2015. Loose Parts: Inspiring Play in Young

Children. Minnesota: Redleaf Press.

Read the book!

Copyright © Redleaf Press. Reprinted with permission. All rights

reserved. Visit us at www.RedLeafPress.com.

Holiday celebrations can be wonderful op-portunities for children to learn about the traditions and values that are cherished parts of people's lives. But many early child-hood professionals wonder what holidays to celebrate in the program or classroom and how to respect the cultures represented by all children. Many parents, too, wonder why programs celebrate specific holidays or why they discourage any celebration at all. NAEYC believes that decisions about what holidays to celebrate are best made together by teachers, parents, and children. Families and staff are more comfortable when both have expressed their views and understand how a decision has been reached. The important thing for all to remember is that when planning holiday activities, the rules of good practice continue to apply: Are the activities meaningful to the children? Are their needs and interests being met? Is the activity a valuable use of children's time? Teachers may survey families at the beginning of the year to determine what holidays to celebrate. They may even ask the

children to create their own holiday to help them learn the con-cepts that underlie such valued traditions. In any case, holiday celebrations are just one way for programs and families to work together to create developmentally and culturally appropriate learning experiences.

Here are some signs of good practice in celebrating holidays: Parents and teachers ask themselves why children should learn about this holiday. Is it developmentally appropriate for those in the group? Why is it important to specific children and families?

Activities are connected to specific children and families in the group. This helps children understand holiday activities in the context of people's daily lives. Children should have the chance to explore the meaning and significance of each holiday. Children are encouraged to share feelings and information about the holidays they celebrate. This will help them make the distinc-tion between learning about another person's holiday rituals and

celebrating one's own holidays. Children may participate as "guests" in holiday activities that are not part of their own cultures. Every group represented in the classroom is honored (both children and staff). This does not mean that every holiday of every group must be celebrated or classrooms would be celebrating all the time! It does mean that once families and

programs have decided on what holidays to celebrate, none should be treated as if they are "unusual." Children should recognize that everyone's holidays are culturally significant and meaningful. Activities demonstrate the fact that not everyone in the same ethnic group celebrates holidays in the same way. Families may provide examples of their own unique traditions. Curriculum demonstrates respect for everyone's customs. If children are observing different holidays at the same time, the values and traditions of each child's culture should be acknowledged. Parents and teachers work together to plan strategies for

children whose families' beliefs do not permit participation in holiday celebrations. Families should take part in creating satisfactory alternatives for the child within the classroom. Focus is on meaningful ways to celebrate holidays without spending money. Families may find certain holidays stressful due to the amount of commercialization and the media pressure to buy gifts. Teachers can help by showing children that homemade costumes and gifts are very special, and celebrating can be joyful without gifts. Additional Resources: Hunt, M. 1995. Let there be light! Lighting up the holidays for young children. Young Children 51(5): 79-81. McCracken, J.B. 1993. Valuing diversity: The primary years. Washington, DC:NAEYC. #238. Document Use/Copyright Copyright © 1999 National Association for the Education of Young Children.

What’s in Season? Choosing fruits and vegetables that are in season is a great way

to stretch food dollars. Learn about these fruits and vegetables

that are fresh and in abundance at:

https://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/features-month/whats-season

Bananas

Grapefruit

Lemons

Mushrooms

Onions and Leeks

Oranges

Pears

Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes and Yams

Turnips

Winter Squash

Have you ever wondered what is for dinner

after a long day of work, errands, or

afterschool activities?

We know we could drive through another fast-food restaurant to save

time, but is that meal meeting the nutritional needs of your family?

The Dinner Tonight program was developed to provide busy families

with quick, healthy, cost effective recipes that taste great. Not only does

the Dinner Tonight program provide recipes, it also gives you weekly

video demonstrations on cooking tips and techniques, nutrition topics,

menu planning basics and information on healthy living.

Our goal for the Dinner Tonight program is to improve the health and

wellness of Texans through nutrition education. We are so excited to

help you get you started on preparing your dinner tonight.

Visit to dinnertonight.tamu.edu sign up for weekly emails, info on

recipes, cooking schools and more!

Page 3

Teaching Tips for Number and Operations

Count throughout the school day.

Use a variety of materials including math manipulative and

real-world objects.

Incorporate counting into all centers.

Give experience with the concept of zero.

Ask good questions such as, “How many more do you need to

have five?” or “You started with six and ate two. Without

counting again, can you tell how many you have?”

Teaching Tips for Shapes and Attributes

Children need to see many different types of triangles—equilateral

(three equal sides), isosceles (two equal sides), scalene (no equal

sides) and right ( one 90° angle) - in various orientations.

Teaching Tips for Measurement and Shapes

Use a variety of hands-on materials such as cubes, blocks,

links, pan balance, straws and playdough.

Take Shape Hunts around the classroom. Use correct mathe-

matical terms to identify shapes and their attributes. For

example, when a child finds a rectangle, count the number of

sides and corners then mark the rectangle with an index card

that says “rectangle.” See which shapes are the most common

in the school environment.

Take Measurement Hunts where children take off one shoe and

use it to find objects that are the same length, longer or shorter

than their shoe. You may even use blocks to find the capacity

of the shoe, then find objects that hold more or less than the

shoe.

Graph of the Day Suggestions

Ideas for two-category graphs

(as well as any YES or NO

question)

Which of these two colors is

your favorite?

Toss a penny. Did it land on

heads or tails?

Does your first name have and E,

yes or no?

How do you feel today, happy or

sad?

Which flavor of gum do you like

better, grape or strawberry?

Ideas for three category graphs

Would you rather drink apple,

orange or grape juice?

Are you wearing pants, shorts or

a skirt?

Are your shoes fastened with

velcro, laces or nothing?

Do you like your potatoes

mashed, fried or baked?

Do you like books about animals,

kids or aliens?

Do you like strawberry, choco-

late or vanilla ice cream best?

Helpful Websites for Preschool Mathematics Teaching

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

www.nctm.org/Classroom-Resources/Browse-All/

Offers: Lesson plans searchable by grade and content area, math

games and interactive children can use independently, link to the

NCTM Pinterest page.

Collaborative for Children

https://www.collabforchildren.org/educators/online-courses

Offer: Online courses for professional development in preschool

mathematics

PBS Parents

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/math/

Offers: Math teaching tips for teachers and parents, interactive for

children, games, and lesson ideas

Resources for Early Childhood

http://rec.ohiorc.org

Learning Experiences/?topic=1&

Offers: Lesson plans searchable by age and content area. Correlates

to Ohio’s early childhood standards, but many objectives mirror

those found in the Texas PreK Guidelines.

Page 4

How a Child Might

Describe Having an

Allergic Reaction

Children have unique ways of describing their

experiences and perceptions, and allergic re-

actions are no exception. Precious time is lost

when adults do not immediately recognize that

a reaction is occurring or don’t understand

what a child is telling them. Children have

unique ways of describing allergic reactions.

What have you heard?

Some children, especially very young ones, put

their hands in their mouths or pull or scratch at

their tongues in response to a reaction. Also,

children’s voices may change (e.g., become

hoarse or squeaky), and they may slur their

words.

The following are examples of the words a

child might use to describe a reaction:

“This food is too spicy.”

“My tongue is hot [or burning].”

“It feels like something’s poking my

tongue.”

“My tongue [or mouth] is tingling [or

burning].”

“My tongue [or mouth] itches.”

“It [my tongue] feels like there is hair on

it.”

“My mouth feels funny.”

“There’s a frog in my throat.”

“There’s something stuck in my throat.”

“My tongue feels full [or heavy].”

“My lips feel tight.”

“It feels like there are bugs in there.” (to

describe itchy ears)

“It [my throat] feels thick.”

“It feels like a bump is on the back of my

tongue [throat].”

If you suspect that your child is having an

allergic reaction, follow your doctor’s

instructions and treat the reaction quickly.

source:http://www.foodallergy.org/

symptoms#howachild

Save the Date

“Growing Healthy Children”

March 5, 2016

Kids can become angry and frustrated just because they’re kids and don’t know how to

handle their emotions yet. This can come from simple things like not getting exactly

what they want. You may experience signs of anger. Some kids naturally have a more

aggressive bent. However, other kids have true reasons to be angry. This often stems

from division in spouse relationships. It can also be an evil being done to them – the

evil can by physical or verbal. Sometimes there might be issues with other children at

school or relationships with siblings. Maybe there are frustrations because of struggles

in learning or developing. Try to get to the root of it. Please try to not live in denial

about the roots. If it is something that is being imposed on them because of the rela-

tionship with your spouse, please try and fix it. It effects your kids more than you

know. If it’s something external, help them. However, we need to be willing to tell our

children that their feelings of anger should not be kept inside and pent up. They need

tools to express it. Try and not let these activities become a reward for aggressive or

angry behavior. If you can catch them quickly before it turns negative and pre-

emptively strike, that’s the best idea.

1. Smash Play Doh

2. Go Outside and Yell

3. Get a Big Piece of Paper and Some Crayons and Let them Scribble Aggressively

4. Let them Throw Wet Sponges Against a Wall

5. Give Them a Whole Bucket of Tennis Balls and Let Then Throw Them as Far as They Can

6. Let Them Run and Pick Up Those Same Tennis Balls

7. Encourage Them to Use Words to Express Anger

8. Have them Draw a Picture of Why They are Angry or

How they Feel

9. Have them Go Outside and Stomp or Jump

10. Turn on Soft Music

Again, try and get to the root first!

October 4, 2012 www.meaningfulmama.com

Page 5